A conventional power-on-reset circuit includes a Schmitt circuit connected between first and second power supply lines, a capacitance connected between the second power supply line and a circuit node which is connected to an input of the Schmitt circuit, and a resistance connected between the first power supply line and the circuit node. The capacitance and the resistance compose a C-R delay circuit having a predetermined time constant.
In operation, when a power supply voltage is applied across first and second power supply lines, the Schmitt circuit becomes operation state, and the potential level of the circuit node rises, however, the potential level thereof does not become high level completely until the capacitance is charged up, in other words, the potential level thereof becomes high level after the elapse of the time constant of the C-R delay circuit, so that the Schmitt circuit is supplied with a low level signal and supplies a high level signal of logic "1" as a reset signal to an external circuit, that is a CMOS integrated circuit for example, for a predetermined time equal to the time constant. When the potential level of the circuit node becomes higher than the threshold voltage of the Schmitt circuit, the Schmitt circuit supplies the CMOS integrated circuit with a low level signal of logic "0" and maintains supplying the low level signal thereto. Thus, the power-on-reset circuit supplies a high level signal as a reset signal to the CMOS integrated circuit for a predetermined time at an initial state of applying a power supply voltage to the power-on-reset circuit. Such a power-on-reset circuit has an advantage in that the power consumption thereof is considerably small, because it has no direct current path.
According to the conventional power-on-reset circuit, however, there is a disadvantage in that the Schmitt circuit may not supply a high level reset signal to the CMOS integrated circuit at an initial state of applying the power supply voltage thereto if the building up of the voltage is slow, because operation of the Schmitt circuit is delayed. Further, there is another disadvantage in that the Schmitt circuit may not supply a high level reset signal to the CMOS integrated circuit in case of a temporary reduction of a power supply voltage in which the CMOS integrated circuit is required to be reset, because the capacitance maintains the charge-up voltage. In such a case, the power-on-reset circuit may not supply a reset signal unless the power supply voltage becomes lower than the threshold voltage of the Schmitt circuit.